"Help—Lynelle's biting people!"
"And I'll keep biting you! Bite-bite-bite, chew-chew-chew!"
On the second floor of the Party Car, the usual sounds of scuffling echoed through the air—only this time, unlike the usual nightly "tussles," it seemed Lynelle had the upper hand.
As for why... well, that story starts about a day ago.
After parting ways with Lynelle in the Seclusion Zone, Stelle returned to the Astral Express alone and casually posted this in the family group chat.
--+--
[Stelle: @Conductor Pom-Pom: Conductor! Lynelle says she won't be coming back to the Express for the next couple days.]
[Pom-Pom: Understood, but has Passenger Lynelle been invited to stay over by Herta again?]
[Stelle: Nah, it's because Lynelle's daughter was just born. She's staying with Ruan Mei to help her daughter adjust physically.]
[Pom-Pom: ?]
[March 7th: ?]
[Dan Heng: ?]
[Himeko: Lynelle has a child? Who's responsible? When did this happen?]
[Welt: Rationally speaking, when I saw Lynelle yesterday, she showed no signs of pregnancy. Barring certain special species in the universe, it's highly unlikely for someone to complete the entire process in a single day. So... she probably found a child?]
[Stelle: Uh... biologically speaking, this child really is Lynelle's daughter.]
[Welt: ?]
[Dan Heng: For the safety and well-being of the Express crew, I think it's necessary to privately message Lynelle and ask for details.]
[March 7th: +1. Wuwu, how could something this big happen today? Why did I have to go shopping on the neighboring commercial starship? Darn it, past me from this morning!]
[Himeko: No need to worry too much. From what I know, Herta cares a great deal about Lynelle. Since Madam Herta hasn't said anything, it should be fine. Besides, Ruan Mei is also in the field of life sciences...]
[Himeko: Wait, hold on. Didn't you tell me this morning that you were handling a commission from Ms. Ruan Mei today?]
[Stelle: Yeah.]
[Himeko: ...Let me give Madam Herta a call.]
--+--
Anyway, only the heavens know how red Lynelle turned when she saw this chat log—and by red, I mean she was steaming.
After all, not long after she accompanied Corruption-chan to Ruan Mei's lab, she passed out from excessive sugar intake (meaning she polished off Ruan Mei's daily supply of pastries) combined with overexertion earlier that day.
This meant that while Himeko and the others were frantically trying to reach Lynelle, she was completely lost in a sweet dream—specifically, she had returned to the Previous Era's Elysian Realm on the Honkai side.
In the end, Ruan Mei answered the calls on behalf of the sleeping Lynelle—but as everyone knows, given Ruan Mei's "interpersonal skills," like adding Anti-Truth Serum to pastries, the conversation only made things more confusing.
"I-I didn't say anything wrong, did I? Corruption-chan definitely counts as a special species..."
Stelle, having successfully walked the Path of Elation this once, crouched in the corner, trembling as she hugged her head in a defensive squat.
"And then my inbox exploded! Do you have any idea how desperate I felt when I woke up to 99+ missed calls on my terminal?"
Ignoring the gray-haired girl's wails in her arms, Lynelle mercilessly pressed her foot against the girl's cheek, squishing Stelle's face into all sorts of ridiculous expressions.
"Even Asta caught wind of it and came to find me, asking if I needed her to buy a starship as a gift. March 7th even..."
"Huh? March was involved too?" Stelle blinked. "What did March do?"
"No, nothing, I just misspoke..."
Lynelle quickly changed the subject.
She couldn't very well say that the next morning, she found a red jellyfish floating by her head, watching her creepily, could she?
"Anyway—" Unable to contain her anger, Lynelle bit down on Stelle's soft cheek.
"You have one day to explain everything clearly to Himeko and the others. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise?"
"Otherwise, I'll call Corruption-chan over to deal with you!"
"!"
Even though she had a great time playing with Corruption-chan that day, Stelle didn't think her favorability with the little one exceeded Lynelle's.
And if it was the kind of "dealing with" Lynelle meant... Stelle's mind instantly flashed back to some strange defeat CGs related to Propagation she'd seen before.
"Don't worry, mission guaranteed!" Stelle immediately stood at attention.
"But speaking of which, Lynelle, how do you suddenly have time to come back... Don't you need to keep an eye on Corruption-chan?"
"Corruption-chan needs to sleep too. Besides, at Ruan Mei's place, aside from playing with the Cake Cats and helping Ruan Mei calm down Tingyun's situation, there's not much else for me to do... So when Corruption-chan is asleep, I can take a break."
"Kinda sounds like parents who can only do stuff after their kid falls asleep..." A strange look crossed Stelle's face.
"Enough nonsense, get to work!"
"Y-yes, ma'am!" Stelle immediately bolted out of the room.
However, after just a few seconds, she poked her head back in. "Oh, Lynelle, one more thing I forgot to tell you."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"It seems like some strange phenomena have been popping up in the station again lately."
"Apparently, some researchers have mysteriously gone missing... But this might not be reliable info. I just overheard other researchers gossiping about it while passing by."
"Anyway, if it's convenient for you, remember to ask Ruan Mei when you head back to the lab if she let some weird experimental creation escape—like a giant Wubbaboo or an oversized Cake Cat or something..."
"Uh..."
Watching Stelle dash off after finishing, Lynelle's eyebrow twitched.
Why did she feel that Ruan Mei's reputation in Stelle's eyes was starting to resemble that of the Previous Era's Mobius?
If something goes wrong, it must be Ruan Mei's fault!
But the problem was, if Lynelle remembered correctly, the incident Stelle mentioned should be the Phase Flame disappearance case following the destruction of the Starcrusher.
Although this was actually the doing of the already-dead-in-version-2.0 Duke Inferno, the root cause did seem to be Ruan Mei losing the Phase Flame...
"Ah, whatever. It's not like there's much going on lately, whether on the Honkai side or here at the station. Might as well help Asta resolve this while I'm at it..."
With that thought, Lynelle found an interface in the station and once again began hacking—no, accessing the station's internal network through proper channels.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.